Promise
by Kari-chan-06
Summary: Twilight happens, but Kate doesn´t die right away. Before she dies, a promise is made…


Promise

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: Twilight happens, but Kate doesn´t die right away. Before she dies, a promise is made…

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"Shooter!" Kate cried out and jumped in front of her boss. She felt a dull pain erupting in her chest and fell hard. Black spots were dancing in front of her eyes and she gasped for air. Only moments later, two faces appeared above her.

"Holy...are you okay, Kate?" Dinozzo asked while he helped her up.

"I was shot at point blank range, what do you think?" She muttered and probed her sore ribs.

"You won´t be going to pilates class tomorrow then?" Tony teased, but she could see that he was actually worried about her.

Gibbs stood next to her, still holding her arm to keep her steady. "You did good, Kate. Protection detail is over." He told her and helped to unzip her vest when another shot rang out somewhere behind them. He briefly wondered why Kate sank to the ground, but when he saw blood on her face, he knew. "Nooooooooo!" Turning around, he emptied his whole clip into the direction of the shooter, but he was long gone.

Tony stood there, frozen to the spot. "Kate..." He whispered, but he didn´t dare to kneel down next to her. There was a hole between her eyes -she had been shot with the precision of a sniper. This had been planned.

Gibbs fell to his knees and cradled her lifeless form into his arms. "Kate..." His voice was broken and barely a whisper. He almost jumped out of his skin when her eyes fluttered open. His head snapped around. "Tony, ambulance, now."

Dinozzo was in automatic already, callling for an ambulance and running down the stairs to show them the way. He wasn´t thinking about anything, he didn´t want to have too much hope.

"Jethro..." Her voice was almost inaudible and shaking with pain. He felt his heart breaking when he looked into her eyes. There was so much pain in them. Hearing her using his first name made a major chill run down his spine. She had never used it before ever.

"Don´t talk, Kate. Ambulance is coming, you´ll be okay. Just hold on." He told her and reached for her hand. It was cold as ice and his spirits sank. He knew what it meant, he had witnessed it once too often in his life.

"P-Promise me s-s-something." He just nodded and still hoped for a miracle, but a part of him knew that she was already dead. "Rem-mem-ber me l-like I w-was. Rem-em-ber the g-good t-t-times." He felt a tear rolling down his face as he nodded, unable to speak. "T-Take ca-care of T-Tony and Ab-b-by f-for m-me." Her eyes started to close by themselves and it took her all she had left to stay a little longer. Her fingers had gone limp already. "N-N-Never b-b-be s-sorry." With that, her eyes closed and he watched her chest rise for a last time. She lay perfectly still and he knew that she was gone.

When Tony came sprinting up with EMTs on his heels, he saw a picture that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Gibbs held Kate in his arms and cried. For as long as he had been at the NCIS, he had never seen his boss cry. Not when his brother had died in a car wreck, not when his father had died suddenly, not even when his house had burned down only a few weeks ago, consuming everything, including his boat.

Gibbs noticed Tony standing near the exit and tried to regain his composture, but he failed miserably. "I will never forget you, Caitlin Todd. It was an honor to have you on the team. " He whispered. "I always thought of you as a friend." He added and got up. Without looking at Tony or the EMTs, he walked down the stairs and towards the MCRT van. A part of him had died on that rooftop today.

After sitting on the rear bumper of the van for a moment, he pulled his cell phone out. "NCIS, Mallard." The voice on the other side said and Gibbs felt another sting in his heart when he realized that he still had to tell the rest of the team.

"Duck, I need you to come out here." He simply said and tried to hide the pain that was shaking his voice. He wanted to curl up in some dark corner and just cry, but he knew he couldn´t do that. There was too much left to be done for the moment.

The doctor got more subdued immediately. "Who, Jethro?" He simply asked and Gibbs was grateful that he was getting over with this rather quickly.

"It´s Kate, Duck. Just get here quickly, okay?" He hung up again and noticed someone standing in front of him. Dinozzo was just looking at him. He remembered the promise he had given Kate and got up. He put his hand on the younger agent´s shoulder. "We will be okay, Tony. We will be okay when we remember the good times." Gibbs told him and felt another tear rolling down his face.

Tony just nodded, but he didn´t pull away. Usually, having his boss so close to him would have freaked him out, but today it didn´t. They just stood there until a second van screetched to a stop next to the MCRT vehicle. "You should go with Ducky." Tony said and sat down. The face of the younger man was ashen, his eyes glistening with tears.

Gibbs walked over to their medical examiner. "She´s up on the rooftop, Duck." He told him and was surprised to see tears in the old man´s eyes.

Mallard simply nodded, but he felt that this would be the hardest day in his life. He walked up the stairs, hearing a second set of steps behind him. The door to the rooftop opened and he just looked at the scene for a moment. Kate lay perfectly still in a pool of her own blood.

"She died in my arms, Duck." He heard the voice of his friend behind him. There was pain in that voice, something one rarely heard from Gibbs. "She told me to remember her as she was, to remember the good times." Gibbs felt new tears in his eyes when he recalled her last words. He dropped onto his knees when reality finally hit him. Kate was gone. She was simply gone from their lives and there was no way to bring her back. While tears fell down his face, he watched Ducky place her in a bag and zip it up. He still didn´t move when two EMTs carried the bag away. Only when a hand was put on his shoulder, he looked up.

"Let´s go, boss." Tony said and forced him to get up. Normally, Gibbs would have scolded him for that, but today he didn´t. A police officer drove the MCRT truck back to the NCIS headquarter. None of them felt able to drive right now, which probably saved the lives of innocent drivers out there.

When he walked into the bullpen, Gibbs realized that the desk next to him would be empty now. She would never walk into the bullpen again with a smile on her face. They would take her belongings away soon and there would be someone else sitting at that desk before long. "I won´t break that promise, Kate. I´ll always remember." He whispered and ran his hand over the top of her desk. Her death had broken his heart and he knew it would never be the same again.

END


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